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In General
- The Cartel: Mixes in with Gangbangers, as figures such as El Cid Hernandez are hitmen and other figures for the cartels, while others such as Miguel Alvarez and Carlo Rodrigo are street-level cholos.
- Hufflepuff House: Borderline example, they are one of the biggest gangs in Em City, and one of the core players in the contraband trade along with the Italians and Homeboys, but other than Miguel Alvarez and Enrique Morales, don't really do much in the show overall.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters
Leadership
El Cid
Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez
Played By: Luis Guzman
Prisoner #98H498. Convicted July 10, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 36 years, up for parole in 20.
A legendary Latino gangster, he takes over the gang from Alvarez and immediately ostracizes him for his Caucasian-like features. He controls his third of the drug trade with a respected iron fist, but eventually lack of success in offing Alvarez gets to him, and he goes nuts.
- Arch-Enemy: To Alvarez. El Cid is constantly serving as a corrupting influence on Alvarez with his insistence on him needing to constantly prove himself, and failing that just trying to flat-out kill him.
- Asshole Victim: Considering all the blood on his hands, his murder isn't much of a tragedy. Especially since Rebadow is the one that does the deed.
- Beard of Evil: He sports a pretty impressive one, in contrast to Guzman's usual goatee.
- The Cartel: Implied to be a hitman for one of these organizations.
- Disproportionate Retribution: If El Cid even mildly dislikes you, he will make you suffer to the best of his ability out of spite. Alvarez is the most frequent (though definitely not the most wounded) victim of this.
- Exemplified by bullying Alvarez into blinding Rivera, a prison guard, simply because Alvarez wanted to stop being treated like dirt by him and the other Latinos. The reason? Rivera ordered El Cid to get his feet off the table and refused to be intimidated by him.
- The Dreaded: The man is terrifying. Every member of El Norte is scared to death of making him angry.
- Flanderization: He's introduced as an urban legend in the Latino underworld, to the point of becoming known as 'El Cid'. He does have some distinctive moments, like helping Adebisi take back control of the Gangstas and his Pet the Dog moment with Bob Rebadow. But in the end, he is defined by very little other than his all-consuming Irrational Hatred of Alvarez. It even crops up in his moment with Rebadow, where he admits that he himself can't figure out why he hates Alvarez so much.
- Hate at First Sight: Instantly starts a hate on for Alvarez the very moment he lays eyes on him.
- Irrational Hatred: For Alvarez. His grudge and hazing of him are pretty baseless, which Hernandez himself admits.
- Jerkass: Hernandez is one mean son-of-a-bitch. Even people he likes get it pretty rough from him.
- Karma Houdini: With Rivera's blinding at least. Despite having orchestrated the whole thing he is never even found out by the authorities or directly punished for it. Rebadow kills him for other reasons.
- Malicious Misnaming: Loves to refer to Alvarez as "Michael", the Anglicized equivalent of "Miguel". It's meant to put Alvarez down as not being Latino enough and "too white".
- Morality Pet: Rebadow's presence chills him out immensely, and he's the first one Hernandez really opens up to. It makes it kind of tragic when Rebadow offs him.
- Perpetual Frowner: The man doesn't smile once in the show.
- Pet the Dog: He treats Rebadow with an uncharacteristic level of respect, even empathizing with how they have spent the same amount of time in prison, and doesn't do anything to intimidate the older cellmate. This makes it rather harsh when Rebadow murders him.
- Sanity Slippage: A combination of Alvarez constantly avoiding his murder attempts and Alvarez's escape really makes him crack up.
- Satisfied Street Rat: Takes great pride in the fact that he was "raised by the system".
- South of the Border: Stated to be a Mexican gangster, whereas the majority of the Latinos are Puerto Rican or Cuban.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Well, not friend, but he's constantly pressuring Alvarez into doing cruel, idiotic and unhealthy things to 'earn his cojones' with the Latinos.
- Tragic Monster: More than 30 years in prison has destroyed everything decent about Hernandez.
Enrique Morales
Enrique Morales
Played By: David Zayas
Prisoner #00M871. Convicted April 6, 2000 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 25 years, up for parole in 15.
One of the most powerful Latinos in Oz, incarcerated for killing another man in a fight. On arriving in Oz, he assumes the position as the head of the Latino gang El Norte.
- Affably Evil: Soft-spoken, polite, genteel, and ruthless.
- Beard of Evil: A thin goatee.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He loves his sister, and goes into shock after her death.
- Evil Genius: Probably the smartest gang leader in the series.
- Genius Bruiser: He's exactly as tough as he is smart, although he puts his brains to better use.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: It only takes a vague comment by Mukada about his sister's "marital problems" for Morales to seek out his sister's husband, and upon confirming that he physically abused her, pound the guy's face into a bloody pulp.
- Leitmotif: His scenes are punctuated or accompanied by the sound of a cuica (squeaky drum).
- Manipulative Bastard: He ably plays the Chinese refugees against Burr Redding.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As a gang-member, Morales is rather even-tempered and reasonable in his dealings. His willingness to compromise and not let emotion guide him is one of the reasons why his leadership is so successful for the Latinos.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Seen in his crime flashback.
- Sickbed Slaying: How he meets his end, killed by an Angel-of-Death type Serial Killer who's a nurse in Oz.
- Stout Strength: His flashback sees him beat another man to death while barely breaking a sweat. He also beats his brother-in-law within an inch of his life, again with very little effort. It's clear there's a mass of muscle underneath his thick exterior. And given that he's quite intelligent and manipulative, fans familiar with both Oz and The Sopranos have often likened him to a Latino equivalent of Tony Soprano.
- Wife-Basher Basher: Particularly when the wife in question is his flesh and blood.
Jose Torres
Jose Torres
Played By: Frank Shamrock
The original leader of the Latinos.
- Ax-Crazy: The first thing he does after getting back into Oz is trying to murder Guerra for no reason.
- The Ghost: He never appears throughout the first season and is paroled towards the end, resulting in Alvarez taking over. He does show up in person in Season 6, only to get dragged off by COs and presumably sent to Solitary.
- Put on a Bus: He's last seen getting dragged off by some COs.
Soldiers
Chico Guerra
Carmen "Chico" Guerra
Played By: Otto Sanchez
Prisoner #96G522. Convicted June 4, 1996 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: 53 years, up for parole in 17.
The unambitious and unimaginative henchman to several Latino leaders.
- Ascended Extra: The only other Latino character to survive all the way through the show, outliving several other extras with no lines.
- Body Horror: What he does to himself.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- He is disgusted by Malcom Coyle's murder of a family and helps protect Augustus from Coyle.
- He doesn't kill Martinez when he has the chance even though it could theoretically lead to Morales ordering his death.
- Flat Character: He pretty much exists to taunt Alvarez time and again, and cozy up to whomever is leading the Latinos at the moment.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: Eventually he buries the hatchet with Alvarez and becomes his friend.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Tips off McManus about Omar White having drugs, triggering a shakedown... but forgets he has them on his person as well.
- Jerkass: The guy's an ass, constantly antagonizing Alvarez without a real reason.
- Not Me This Time: He is framed by Poet for selling drugs to Hill in order to escape Redding's wrath.
- Too Dumb to Live: He doesn't seem to get that antagonizing Adebisi is a bad idea. This proves to be a recurring flaw, since he repeatedly antagonizes people who could easily kill him.
- Unknown Rival: To Alvarez, who's aware of his existence and hatred, but cares very little. They eventually bury the exhausting hatchet.
Carlos Martinez
Carlos Martinez
Played By: Carlos Leon
An aggressive Latino soldier.
- Ax-Crazy: His crime flashback shows him beating an elderly couple to death, one at a time, and each with multiple blows from a golf club. He's only too eager to try and fulfill El Cid's order to kill Alvarez.
- Jerkass: He's a rude and aggressive man.
- One-Steve Limit: Another prisoner named Martinez appeared in season one but they don't seem to be related.
Louis Bevilaqua
Louis Bevilaqua
Played By: George A Aguilar
A Latino prisoner who, while on the outside, raped Glynn's daughter. He has a hostile relationship with Miguel, who killed his cousin, Carlo Ricardo.
- Assassin Outclassin': His crime flashback shows him being shot at in his car by rival gangbangers (who kill the woman he's with) but managing to duck their bullets and run them off the road before shooting one of them as a bystander helps him out of the car. He's the victim of it himself, when Giles steals his shank and stabs him in the throat with it before he can kill Alvarez.
- Bald of Evil: A bald-headed, violent thug and rapist.
- Drunk Driver: In a flashback, and while receiving oral sex no less.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's mentioned in passing several times while the prisoners in Solitary are being counted, but is only physically around for one episode before Giles kills him to save Alvarez.
Carlo Ricardo
Carlo Ricardo
Played By: Juan Carlos Hernandez
A Latino prisoner who deeply loves his family.
- Affably Evil: He starts out as being rather friendly. It doesn't last.
- Assassin Outclassin': He dies when Alvarez shanks him after he tries to kill him on El Cid's orders.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Alvarez pins the rape of Glynn's daughter on him posthumously after killing him.
- Despair Event Horizon: He crosses it after his sister stops visiting him, unaware that it was because she got a new job out of state since Lopresti threw the letter explaining this away.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He deeply loves his family, and their slow abandonment of him gradually breaks him.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The knowledge that his family no longer wants anything to do with him and is slowly abandoning him slowly breaks Ricardo's mind.
- Noodle Incident: Why he's in Oz is unrevealed.
- Sanity Slippage: He slowly grows unhinged after his parents and most of his siblings stop visiting him.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: He grows more aggressive and violent as his family slowly abandons him.
Carlos Rodrigo
Carlos Rodrigo
Played By: Benny Nieves
An ambitious Latino prisoner.
- Ambition Is Evil: He's a large proponent for the Latinos getting more involved with the drug trade and desperately wants the gang to be on the same keel as the Italians and the Homeboys.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He definitely sees himself as a bigger threat than he actually is.
- Boom, Headshot!: He's shot in the head during the raid.
- Misplaced Retribution: He wants Keane killed for Martinez's death, ignorant that it was both self-defense and arranged by O'Reily and Healy.
Julio Martinez
Julio Martinez
Played By: Eddie J. Fernandez
A Latino prisoner.
Ricardo Alvarez
Ricardo Alvarez
Played By: Tomas Milian, George A. Aguilar (young)
Alvarez's grandfather, who is serving a life term for killing another inmate.
- Abusive Parents: Of the neglectful variety. He agrees with Mukada's blunt assessment of him being a shitty father, and admits to having neglected his son and grandson.
- And Show It to You: He cut out an inmate's heart as retaliation for cutting out Eduardo's tongue.
- The Atoner: It's implied Mukada was able to convince him to take some sense of responsibility for Alvarez and his baby.
- Emotional Regression: A very dark and tragic example. He mentally reverts to a scared little boy due to his Alzheimer's Disease.
- Papa Wolf: After a Haitian inmate cut out Eduardo's tongue, Ricardo cut the guy's heart out as revenge.
Eduardo Alvarez
Eduardo Alvarez
Played By: Jose R. Rosario
Alvarez's father, who is serving a life sentence.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Eduardo is a recurring character through the first two seasons, then is never seen or mentioned again.
- Tongue Trauma: A Haitian inmate cut out his tongue because he talked too much.
- The Voiceless: On account of having no tongue.
Jaime Velez
Jaime Velez
Played By: Christopher Rivera
A young Latino soldier who looks up to Alvarez.
- The Dragon: He wants to be this to Alvarez, seeing him as an up-and-coming leader.
- Too Dumb to Live: Fails to kill Guerra after basically politely requesting to kill him for Alvarez.
- Villain Respect: He looks up to Alvarez because of his stunt where he let Guerra stab him, viewing his bravery as the future for El Norte.
